The five daughters of King Edward IV (1461–1483) and Elizabeth Woodville, (left to right): Elizabeth, Cecily, Anne, Catherine, and Mary, all "Princesses of York". Royal Window, Northwest Transept, Canterbury Cathedral

In 1474, Edward IV contracted a marriage alliance with James III of Scotland, whereby Cecily was betrothed to the future James IV of Scotland. Because of this she was for a time styled Princess of Scots. This agreement was, however, unpopular in the Kingdom of Scotland, and later military conflicts between Edward IV and James III negated the marriage arrangement.

With her older sisters, Cecily was present at the wedding of their brother the Duke of York in 1478. In 1480, Cecily was named a Lady of the Garter, along with her next elder sister Mary.

Edward IV continued to pay the Scottish dowry until 11 June 1482 when by the Treaty of Fotheringhay, Cecily was betrothed to Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany, the exiled younger brother of James III, who had personal ambitions for the Scottish throne. Edward IV sent Albany and Richard, Duke of Gloucester with an army into Scotland. Richard returned with a bond from the merchants of Edinburgh to repay the dowry, and re-captured the town of Berwick upon Tweed. Edward IV decided to take the money and formally cancel the marriage with Prince James.[1] Albany was killed on 7 August 1485, without a marriage to Cecily having taken place, but the death of Edward IV in 1483 had already changed the marriage prospects for his daughters in any case.

After the death of Edward IV, his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, asserted his right to the crown despite the fact that Edward had two male heirs. One of the controversies of history has been the mystery of what happened to the two boys, but it is known that Richard, acting on information provided by Robert Stillington, Bishop of Bath and Wells, declared that his brother Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville Grey had not been valid and that, therefore, their children were illegitimate and could not inherit the crown.[2] Richard assumed the throne, and in January 1484 Parliament passed the Titulus Regius, declaring Gloucester to be King Richard III and barring the children of Edward IV from the throne.

According to Philippe de Commines, diplomat at the court of the Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, who was married to Margaret of York, an aunt of Cecily of York, only two of the elder daughters of Edward IV were declared illegitimate at the time that their younger brothers were excluded from the throne by the Act of Titulus Regius that confirmed Richard III's right to the throne.[3] However, this was an error. The relevant line in the Titulus Regius says that "all th’issue and children of the said king [Edward IV] been bastards, and unable to inherite or to clayme anything by inheritance, by the lawe and custome of England."[4]

Cecily was married to Ralph Scrope of Upsall, a younger brother of Thomas Scrope, 6th Baron Scrope of Masham, and a supporter of Richard III, but the marriage was annulled on the accession of her future brother-in-law, Henry Tudor, as King Henry VII of England. Many published works fail to note this earlier, nullified, marriage. Years later, Cecily's discarded first husband succeeded another elder brother to the family barony, becoming Ralph Scrope, 9th Baron Scrope of Masham. He died circa 1515.

The Lancastrian claimant, Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, had announced at Rennes, France that he intended to unite the rival royal houses of Lancaster and York, by marrying a daughter of Edward IV, and thus bring to an end the conflicts of generations of descendants of Edward III now known as the Wars of the Roses. His first choice was Elizabeth of York, the eldest of the late king's daughters, but had she died, Henry's marital intentions would have turned to Cecily herself, as he stated explicitly in his declaration.[5]

Cecily had two children: Elizabeth and Anne Welles, who both died young and unmarried. Upon the death of Viscount Welles on 9 February 1499, Cecily's grief is said to have been considerable. A portion of the Viscount's will shows the relationship between the two:

Also I geve and bequethe to my dere beloved lady and wife Cecille, for terme of her lif, all my castelles, manors, landes and tenements, aswell suche as I have purchased as all odre during only her life, whome I trust above all oder, that if my goodes and catallis wilnot suffice for the performance of this my laste will, that she will thenne of the revenues of the profittes of my inheritance perform this my laste will. Also I will that a preste be founde for ever after my said wifes decease to sey masse daily for my sowle and all Cristen sowles at the said aulter of the yerely revenues of my purchased landes, and oder which my saide lady hath promised me faithfully to purchase to the same entent if my saide purchased landes suffice not therto. And I will yt suche residue as shall fortune to be of my goodes that my saide dere beloved lady and wife have theym to her owne use. And I make executors the saide Cecill, my dere beloved wife, and Sr Raynold Bray, knyght. . .[6]

Cecily played a role in various major royal ceremonies during the earlier years of Henry VII's reign, as befitted her position in the Royal Family, as sister of a queen consort and sister-in-law of a king regnant. She carried her nephew Arthur, Prince of Wales, at his christening; attended her sister Elizabeth of York at her coronation as queen consort; and bore the train of Catherine of Aragon at her wedding to Prince Arthur. There is also a record of her lending money to her sister, the queen, in 1502.[7] Though the king banned Cecily from court after her third marriage to Thomas Kyne, a man of low degree, she found comfort in the assistance of Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond (Henry's mother).[8]

Despite her apparent mourning, some three years into her first widowhood, and having lost two of the children by her late husband, she contracted a marriage which has been described as being "rather for comfort than credit" (see Fuller's Worthies, vol. 2, p. 165). Cecily's third and final marriage, to Thomas Kyme, Kymbe, or Keme, an obscure Lincolnshire squire, otherwise called Sir John Keme or Kene, of the Isle of Wight, took place sometime between May 1502 and January 1504. It is thought to have been a love match, entered into entirely from the princess' own liking.

Green states that she chose a partner to suit herself who was also someone so unthreatening as to be beneath the notice of the king or likely to arouse his jealousy. This wedding took place without the king's approval or permission. The princess appears to have miscalculated her brother-in-law's attitude. The king banished Cecily from court and all her estates were confiscated.

After the intervention of the king's mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, who is known to have aided Cecily when she fell out of favour with the king, some of Cecily’s lands were restored.[9] She was to enjoy only a lifetime interest in those remaining to her, and to have nothing to pass on to her husband, or to any children of their union.

Cecily lived out the balance of her life quietly, far from court. In the royal account books, there is a gap in the record of her final years. Existing details about her final years in this last marriage are scanty and conflicting. Two children, Richard and Margaret (or Margery) are mentioned in the enhanced copy, dated 1602, of the heraldic Visitation of Hampshire (1576) made by Smythe, Rouge Dragon Pursuivant at the College of Arms, indicating that they lived, married, and had offspring. The children of the princess and her last husband were granted no royal titles or styles, nor did they enjoy any royal favours, lands, or positions at court, nor, indeed, any public recognition whatsoever. Over the centuries any memory of them has been obscured, and thus the veracity of their historical existence is now difficult to substantiate.

Princess Cecily died in 1507, at the age of 38, only a few years after contracting her last marriage. She lived at East Standen in the Isle of Wight, not in great wealth.

Ruins of the old Quarr abbey

According to Edward Hall's Chronicle, she was buried in relative obscurity in Quarr Abbey, Isle of Wight. Horrox disputes this pointing to evidence from the Beaufort account books that states she died at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, after a three-week sojourn there, and was buried at a place that must have been local, known as "the friars" (perhaps the friary at Kings Langley, associated with the House of York and where Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York was buried). The writ of diem clausit extremum, which supplies her death date, styles her as "late wife of John, late Viscount Wells", omitting any reference to her last husband or their children. If she was indeed buried in the precincts of Quarr Abbey, near her last home, then Cecily's tomb and any record of its precise location was lost when Quarr Abbey was destroyed during Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries. Quarr's building materials were reused.

A stained glass portrait of Cecily, originally from a larger "royal window" depicting Edward IV's family, is now in Glasgow's Burrell Collection. A modern copy has been placed in the much restored original group in the north transept of Canterbury Cathedral.[10] These are, along with another window in the parish church of Little Malvern, Worcestershire, her only surviving memorials.

Complete Peerage, volume 14 (1998), pg. 626 (sub Welles, for the first marriage of The Princess Cecily to Ralph Scrope)

J. L. Laynesmith, The Last Medieval Queens: English Queenship 1445-1503, 2004, pp. 199–200 (regarding the anger of King Henry VII at her final marriage and his confiscation of her estates, and the negotiations for a resolution and partial restoration of Princess Cecily's property by the King's mother, Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby)

1.
Palace of Westminster
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The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Commonly known as the Houses of Parliament after its occupants, the Palace lies on the bank of the River Thames in the City of Westminster. The palace is owned by the monarch in right of the Crown and for ceremonial purposes, the building is managed by committees appointed by both houses, which report to the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Speaker. The first royal palace was built on the site in the 11th century, part of the New Palaces area of 3.24 hectares was reclaimed from the Thames, which is the setting of its nearly 300-metre long façade, called the River Front. Barry was assisted by Augustus Pugin, an authority on Gothic architecture and style. The Palace is one of the centres of political life in the United Kingdom, Westminster has become a metonym for the UK Parliament, the Palace of Westminster has been a Grade I listed building since 1970 and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. The Palace of Westminster site was important during the Middle Ages. Known in medieval times as Thorney Island, the site may have been first-used for a residence by Canute the Great during his reign from 1016 to 1035. St Edward the Confessor, the penultimate Anglo-Saxon monarch of England, Thorney Island and the surrounding area soon became known as Westminster. Neither the buildings used by the Anglo-Saxons nor those used by William I survive, the oldest existing part of the Palace dates from the reign of William Is successor, King William II. The Palace of Westminster was the principal residence in the late Medieval period. The predecessor of Parliament, the Curia Regis, met in Westminster Hall, simon de Montforts parliament, the first to include representatives of the major towns, met at the Palace in 1265. The Model Parliament, the first official Parliament of England, met there in 1295, in 1512, during the early years of the reign of King Henry VIII, fire destroyed the royal residential area of the palace. In 1534, Henry VIII acquired York Place from Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, renaming it the Palace of Whitehall, Henry used it as his principal residence. Although Westminster officially remained a royal palace, it was used by the two Houses of Parliament and by the various law courts. Because it was originally a residence, the Palace included no purpose-built chambers for the two Houses. Important state ceremonies were held in the Painted Chamber which had originally built in the 13th century as the main bedchamber for King Henry III. The House of Commons, which did not have a chamber of its own, the Commons acquired a permanent home at the Palace in St Stephens Chapel, the former chapel of the royal palace, during the reign of Edward VI

2.
London
–
London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area

3.
Sandown
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Sandown Bay is the name of the bay off the English Channel which both towns share, and it is notable for its long stretch of easily accessible golden sandy beach. It is the site of the lost Sandown Castle, whilst undergoing construction, this was attacked by a French force which had fought its way over Culver Down from Whitecliff Bay, resulting in the French being repulsed. It was built too far into the sea and constantly suffered erosion, together with Shanklin, Sandown forms a built up area of 21,374 inhabitants. The sweeping esplanade from Devonia Steps to Yaverland and the bandstand was built during the First World War, Sandown is a typical Victorian seaside town, but is surrounded by a wealth of natural features. Nearby inland are Sandown Levels, one of the few freshwater wetlands on the Isle of Wight, further inland the woodland of Borthwood provides delightful woodland walks, and bluebells aplenty in the spring. The most significant wildlife designation in the area is the Special Area of Conservation which covers the marine zone, including the reefs. At extreme low tide a petrified forest is partially revealed in the part of Sandown Bay. Originally Sandown was of military significance as its wide sandy beaches offers a landing place for invasion. At first only available to the rich, the development of railways and excursion steamers made such holidays more generally available. Sandown has been a resort town since the Victorian age thanks to its sands. Its success, along with that of other neighbouring Isle of Wight resorts led to the building of a railway connecting Sandown with Ventnor at the south and Ryde on the north coast of the island. Sandown railway station is still on the one remaining operational railway on the island, today Sandown esplanade boasts some fine Victorian and Edwardian hotels which overlook the golden sands of the beach below. Sandown Pier hosts a large amusement centre with arcade games and childrens play areas, the pier is also well used for sea fishing with designated areas especially for the angler. Further north, there is the Isle of Wight Zoo which specialises in tigers, other facilities include an 18-hole golf course, the Dinosaur Isle geological museum and Sandham Gardens, offering a skate park, childrens play park, crazy golf, bowls and putting green. In recent years, the town has started to experience urban decay as many of the hotels began to close and be replaced with Care homes, a grant given to Sandown and Ryde in 2015 has raised hopes of regeneration within the town. Sandown offers an assortment of pubs and restaurants, the pubs range from the more traditional offering a selection of local ales and ciders, to more family-friendly gastro-pubs with a wider menu. Restaurants in the offer a varied cuisine and there are a variety of traditional tea rooms on High Street. A full listing of places to eat and drink in Sandown is now available online, as well as the Island Line Railway, Sandown is served by regular buses run by Southern Vectis on routes 2,3 and 8

4.
Isle of Wight
–
The Isle of Wight /ˈaɪl əv ˈwaɪt/ is a county and the largest and second-most populous island in England. It is located in the English Channel, about 4 miles off the coast of Hampshire, the island has resorts that have been holiday destinations since Victorian times, and is known for its mild climate, coastal scenery, and verdant landscape of fields, downland and chines. The island has been home to the poets Swinburne and Tennyson and to Queen Victoria and it has a maritime and industrial tradition including boat building, sail making, the manufacture of flying boats, the hovercraft, and Britains space rockets. The island hosts annual festivals including the Isle of Wight Festival. It has well-conserved wildlife and some of the richest cliffs and quarries for dinosaur fossils in Europe, the Isle was owned by a Norman family until 1293 and was earlier a kingdom in its own right. Rural for most of its history, its Victorian fashionability and the affordability of holidays led to significant urban development during the late 19th. The island was part of Hampshire until 1890 when it became its own administrative county, apart from a shared police force, there is now no administrative link with Hampshire, although a combined local authority with Portsmouth and Southampton is being considered. Until 1995 the island had a governor, the quickest public transport link to the mainland is the hovercraft from Ryde to Southsea, while three ferry and two catamaran services cross the Solent to Southampton, Lymington and Portsmouth. During the Ice Age, sea levels were lower and the Solent was part of a river flowing south east from current day Poole Harbour towards mid-Channel. As sea levels rose, the valley became flooded. The first inhabitants are assumed to have been hunter-gatherers migrating by land during the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age period, as the ice age began to recede. From the Neolithic era onwards, there are indications that the island had wide trading links, with a port at Bouldnor, evidence of Bronze Age tin trading, caesar reported that the Belgae took the Isle of Wight in about 85 BC and gave its name as Vectis. The Roman historian Suetonius mentions that the island was captured by the commander Vespasian, the Romans built no towns or roads on the island, but the remains of at least seven Roman villas have been found, indicating the prosperity of local agriculture. During the Dark Ages the island was settled by Jutes as the kingdom of Wihtwara under King Arwald. In 685 it was invaded by Caedwalla, who tried to replace the inhabitants with his own followers and it suffered especially from Viking raids, and was often used as a winter base by Viking raiders when they were unable to reach Normandy. Later, both Earl Tostig and his brother Harold Godwinson held manors on the island, the Norman Conquest of 1066 created the position of Lord of the Isle of Wight, the island being given by William the Conqueror to his kinsman William FitzOsbern. Carisbrooke Priory and the fort of Carisbrooke Castle were then founded, allegiance was sworn to FitzOsbern rather than the king, the Lordship was subsequently granted to the de Redvers family by Henry I, after his succession in 1100. For nearly 200 years the island was a semi-independent feudal fiefdom, the final private owner was the Countess Isabella de Fortibus, who, on her deathbed in 1293, was persuaded to sell it to Edward I

5.
Hatfield, Hertfordshire
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Hatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It had a population of 29,616 in 2001, increasing to 39,201 at the 2011 Census, the settlement is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House, the home of the Marquess of Salisbury, is the nucleus of the old town, Hatfield was one of the post-war New Towns built around London and has much modernist architecture from the period. The University of Hertfordshire is based there, Hatfield is 20 miles north of London and is connected to the capital via the A1 and direct trains to London Kings Cross, Finsbury Park and Moorgate. As a result, the town has seen a recent increase in commuters who work in London moving to the area. In the Saxon period Hatfield was known as Hetfelle, but by the year 970, No other records remain until 1226, when Henry III granted the Bishops of Ely rights to an annual four-day fair and a weekly market. The town was then called Bishops Hatfield, Hatfield House is the seat of the Cecil family, the Marquesses of Salisbury. Elizabeth Tudor was confined there for three years in what is now known as The Old Palace in Hatfield Park. Legend has it that it was here in 1558, while sitting under an oak tree in the Park and she held her first Council in the Great Hall of Hatfield. In 1851, the route of the Great North Road was altered to avoid cutting through the grounds of Hatfield House, the town grew up around the gates of Hatfield House. Old Hatfield retains many buildings, notably the Old Palace, St Etheldredas Church. The Old Palace was built by the Bishop of Ely, Cardinal Morton, in 1497, during the reign of Henry VII, and the only surviving wing is still used today for Elizabethan-style banquets. St Etheldredas Church was founded by the monks from Ely, in 1930 the de Havilland airfield and aircraft factory was opened at Hatfield and by 1949 it had become the largest employer in the town, with almost 4,000 staff. It was taken over by Hawker Siddeley in 1960 and merged into British Aerospace in 1978, in the 1930s it produced a range of small biplanes. During the Second World War it produced the Mosquito fighter bomber and developed the Vampire, after the war, facilities were expanded and it developed the Comet airliner, the Trident airliner, and an early bizjet, the DH125. British Aerospace closed the Hatfield site in 1993 having moved the BAe 146 production line to Woodford Aerodrome, the land was used as a film set for Steven Spielbergs movie Saving Private Ryan and most of the BBC/HBO television drama Band of Brothers. It was later developed for housing, higher education, commerce, today, Hatfields aviation history is remembered by the names of certain local streets and pubs as well as The Comet Hotel built in the 1930s. The de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre, at Salisbury Hall in nearby London Colney, preserves and displays many historic de Havilland aeroplanes, the Abercrombie Plan for London in 1944 proposed a New Town in Hatfield

6.
Hertfordshire
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Hertfordshire is a county in southern England, bordered by Bedfordshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Buckinghamshire to the west and Greater London to the south. For government statistical purposes, it is placed in the East of England region, in 2013, the county had a population of 1,140,700 living in an area of 634 square miles. Four towns have between 50,000 and 100,000 residents, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Watford and St Albans. Hertford, once the market town for the medieval agricultural county derives its name from a hart. Elevations are high for the region in the north and west and these reach over 240m in the western projection around Tring which is in the Chilterns. The countys borders are approximately the watersheds of the Colne and Lea, hertfordshires undeveloped land is mainly agricultural and much is protected by green belt. The countys landmarks span many centuries, ranging from the Six Hills in the new town of Stevenage built by local inhabitants during the Roman period, Leavesden filmed much of the UK-based $7.7 Bn box office Harry Potter film series and has the countrys studio tour. Saint Alban, a Romano-British soldier, took the place of a Christian priest and was beheaded on Holywell Hill and his martyrs cross of a yellow saltire on a blue background is reflected in the flag and coat of arms of Hertfordshire. Hertfordshire is well-served with motorways and railways, providing access to London. The largest sector of the economy of the county is in services, Hertfordshire was the area assigned to a fortress constructed at Hertford under the rule of Edward the Elder in 913. Hertford is derived from the Anglo-Saxon heort ford, meaning deer crossing, the name Hertfordshire is first recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1011. Deer feature in many county emblems, there is evidence of humans living in Hertfordshire from the Mesolithic period. It was first farmed during the Neolithic period and permanent habitation appeared at the beginning of the Bronze Age and this was followed by tribes settling in the area during the Iron Age. 293 the first recorded British martyrdom is believed to have taken place. Saint Alban, a Romano-British soldier, took the place of a Christian priest and was beheaded on Holywell Hill. His martyrs cross of a saltire on a blue background is reflected in the flag. He is the Patron Saint of Hertfordshire, with the departure of the Roman Legions in the early 5th century, the now unprotected territory was invaded and colonised by the Anglo-Saxons. By the 6th century the majority of the county was part of the East Saxon kingdom

7.
Quarr Abbey
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Quarr Abbey is a monastery between the villages of Binstead and Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight in southern England. The name is pronounced as Kwor and it belongs to the Catholic Order of St Benedict. They were constructed from Belgian brick in a style combining French, Byzantine, in the vicinity are a few remains of the original twelfth-century abbey. A community of fewer than a dozen monks maintains the monasterys regular life, as of 2013, the community provides two-month internships for young men. St. Marys Abbey at Quarr was part of the Cistercian Order and was founded in 1132 by Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon, arreton Manor was part of the abbey from the 12th century until 1525. The name Quarr comes from quarry, because there used to be a quarry in the neighbourhood. The original title of the monastery was the Abbey of our Lady of the Quarry, stone from the quarry was used in the Middle Ages for both ecclesiastical and military buildings, for example for parts of the Tower of London. This site became a valuable and productive property, because of this, it was the tradition for the abbot to be appointed warden or lord of the island. The prevalence of piracy in the led to the granting in 1340 of special permission to fortify the area against attack. A stone wall, sea gate and portcullis were constructed, the ruins of these defences are still visible. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536, the land was acquired by a Southampton merchant and its stone was used for fortifications at the nearby towns of Cowes and Yarmouth. One of the three bells is preserved in the belfry of the nearby Anglican parish church, originally built by the monks of Quarr Abbey for their lay dependants. Salvaged stone was used to build Quarr Abbey House. A nineteenth-century French law banned religious orders except by special dispensation, as a precaution, Abbot Paul Delatte of the Benedictine Solesmes Abbey had sent a monk to England to look for a house to shelter the community. A crisis came in 1880, when congregations were ordered to apply for authorisation within three months, although this was at first brutally enforced against mens communities, protests resulted in gradual abandonment of the measures. On 1 July 1901, however, tolerance towards religious communities came to an end with the passing of a new law, the founder of Solesmes, Prosper Guéranger, had originally thought of England as a possible place of refuge should the community have to go into exile. The house was viewed and accepted, and a contract was signed on 19 August 1901. On the death of Sir Richard in 1805, the passed to his niece

8.
Kings Langley
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Kings Langley is a historic village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England,21 miles northwest of central London to the south of the Chiltern Hills and now part of the London commuter belt. It was once the location of Kings Langley Palace, a palace of the Plantagenet kings of England. The 12th century parish church of All Saints houses the tomb of Edmund of Langley and it is 2 miles south of Hemel Hempstead and 2 miles north of Watford. The place-name Langley is first attested here in a Saxon charter of circa 1050 and it is spelt Langelai in the Domesday Book of 1086, and is recorded as Langel Regis in 1254. The name means wood or clearing. A Roman villa has been excavated just south of the village, the town was probably part of the lands of the Abbey of St. Albans, although actual records have been lost. At the Norman conquest the manor was given to Williams half brother Robert and it is around the manor that the present village developed as a linear village lying on the old road from London to Berkhamsted and the Midlands of England. In the Domesday Book of 1086, Langley was in the hundred of Danish, around 1276 the manor was purchased by Queen Eleanor and a palace was built on the hill above the village to its west with a deer park extending to its south. This gave the village its link to royalty, first being renamed Langley Regina after its sponsoring queen, and then later changed to Langley Regis or later still by the added epithet Kings. The village remained the location of Kings Langley Palace, a palace of the Plantagenet kings of England. The palace and the church that accompanied the priory fell into disrepair at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The Church of All Saints was built during the 14th century on the site of an earlier church, the body of King Richard II was buried here for a time after his probable murder at Pontefract Castle in 1400. It was later removed to Westminster Abbey, the body of Edmund of Langley, died 1402, the fifth son of Edward III and the first Duke of York, still rests in the memorial chapel. The 18th century Sparrows Herne turnpike road traversed the Chilterns via the valley of the River Gade, the 16th century Saracens Head public house is a coaching inn which flourished in this period. The Grand Union Canal dating from 1797 and the 1838 London and Birmingham Railway which later became the West Coast Main Line, there are many businesses located near the station in Home Park Industrial Estate which is also the site of the Construction and Engineering Centre of West Herts College. 20th century housing developments have led to the spreading out on either side of the main road. The A41 has now been diverted west of the leaving the high street to local traffic for the first time in centuries. During the Second World War, the village was home to the headquarters in Britain of the Polish Underground army based at Barnes Lodge just off the Hempstead Road near Rucklers Lane

9.
House of York
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The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became Kings of England in the late 15th century and it is based on these descents that they claimed the English crown. Compared with the House of Lancaster, it had a claim to the throne of England according to cognatic primogeniture. The reign of this dynasty ended with the death of Richard III of England in 1485 and it became extinct in the male line with the death of Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick in 1499. Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, 1st Earl of Cambridge, KG was a son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. He was the founder of the House of York, but it was through the marriage of his younger son, Richard to Anne Mortimer that the Yorkist faction in the Wars of the Roses made its claim on the throne. The other party in the Wars of the Roses, the Lancasters, were descendants of Edmunds elder brother, Edmund had two sons, Edward, and Richard of Conisburgh. Edward succeeded to the dukedom in 1402, but was killed at the battle of Agincourt in 1415, Richard married Anne Mortimer, a great-granddaughter of Lionel of Antwerp, the second son of Edward III. Furthermore, Annes son Richard also became heir general to the earldom of March, after her brother, Edmund, 5th Earl. Richard of Conisburgh was executed following his involvement in the Southampton Plot to depose Henry V of England in favour of the Earl of March, the dukedom of York therefore passed to his son, Richard Plantagenet. Through his mother, Richard Plantagenet also inherited the lands of the earldom of March, although he served as Protector of the Realm during Henry VIs period of incapacity in 1453-54, his reforms were reversed by Somersets party once the king had recovered. The Wars of the Roses began the year, with the First Battle of St Albans. Initially, Richard aimed only to purge his Lancastrian political opponents from positions of influence over the king and it was not until October 1460 that he claimed the throne for the House of York. In that year the Yorkists had captured the king at the battle of Northampton, Richard and his second son Edmund were killed at the battle of Wakefield on 30 December. Richards claim to the throne was inherited by his son Edward, with the support of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, Edward, already showing great promise as a leader of men, defeated the Lancastrians in a succession of battles. While Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou were campaigning in the north, Edward strengthened his claim with a decisive victory at the Battle of Towton in the same year, in the course of which the Lancastrian army was virtually wiped out. The early reign of Edward IV was marred by Lancastrian plotting, Warwick himself changed sides, and supported Margaret of Anjou and the kings jealous brother George, Duke of Clarence, in briefly restoring Henry in 1470-71. However, Edward regained his throne, and the House of Lancaster was wiped out with the death of Henry VI himself, in the Tower of London in 1471

10.
Edward IV of England
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Edward IV was the King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was the first Yorkist King of England, before becoming king, he was 4th Duke of York, 7th Earl of March, 5th Earl of Cambridge and 9th Earl of Ulster. He was also the 65th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, Edward of York was born at Rouen in France, the second son of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville. He was the eldest of the four sons who survived to adulthood and he bore the title Earl of March before his fathers death and his accession to the throne. Edwards father Richard, Duke of York, had been heir to King Henry VI until the birth of Henrys son Edward in 1453, Richard carried on a factional struggle with the kings Beaufort relatives. He established a dominant position after his victory at the First Battle of St Albans in 1455, in which his chief rival Edmund Beaufort, however, Henrys Queen, Margaret of Anjou, rebuilt a powerful faction to oppose the Yorkists over the following years. The Yorkist leaders fled from England after the collapse of their army in the confrontation at Ludford Bridge, the Duke of York took refuge in Ireland, while Edward went with the Nevilles to Calais where Warwick was governor. In 1460 Edward landed in Kent with Salisbury, Warwick and Salisburys brother William Neville, Lord Fauconberg, raised an army and this left Edward, now Duke of York, at the head of the Yorkist faction. He defeated a Lancastrian army at Mortimers Cross in Herefordshire on 2–3 February 1461 and he then united his forces with those of Warwick, whom Margarets army had defeated at the Second Battle of St Albans, during which Henry VI had been rescued by his supporters. Edwards father had restricted his ambitions to becoming Henrys heir, and he then advanced against the Lancastrians, having his life saved on the battlefield by the Welsh Knight Sir David Ap Mathew. He defeated the Lancastrian army in the exceptionally bloody Battle of Towton in Yorkshire on 29 March 1461, Edward had effectively broken the military strength of the Lancastrians, and he returned to London for his coronation. King Edward IV named Sir David Ap Mathew Standard Bearer of England, Lancastrian resistance continued in the north, but posed no serious threat to the new regime and was finally extinguished by Warwicks brother John Neville in the Battle of Hexham in 1464. Henry VI had escaped into the Pennines, where he spent a year in hiding, Queen Margaret fled abroad with the young Prince Edward and many of their leading supporters. Even at the age of nineteen, Edward exhibited remarkable military acumen and he also had a notable physique and was described as handsome and affable. His height is estimated at 6 feet 4.5 inches, making him the tallest among all English, Scottish, most of Englands leading families had remained loyal to Henry VI or remained uncommitted in the recent conflict. The new regime, therefore, relied heavily on the support of the Nevilles, however, the king increasingly became estranged from their leader the Earl of Warwick, due primarily to his marriage. Warwick, acting on Edwards behalf, made arrangements with King Louis XI of France for Edward to marry either Louis daughter Anne or his sister-in-law Bona of Savoy. He was humiliated and enraged to discover that, while he was negotiating, Edward had secretly married Elizabeth Woodville, Edwards marriage to Elizabeth Woodville has been criticised as an impulsive action that did not add anything to the security of England or the York dynasty

11.
Elizabeth Woodville
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Elizabeth Woodville was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Edward IV from 1464 until his death in 1483. At the time of her birth, her family was mid-ranked in the English aristocracy. Her first marriage was to a supporter of the House of Lancaster, Sir John Grey of Groby, he died at the Second Battle of St Albans. Her second marriage, to Edward IV, was a cause célèbre of the day, thanks to Elizabeths great beauty and lack of great estates. Edward was only the king of England since the Norman Conquest to have married one of his subjects. This hostility turned into open discord between King Edward and Warwick, leading to a battle of wills that finally resulted in Warwick switching allegiance to the Lancastrian cause, Elizabeth Woodville was born about 1437, possibly in October, at Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire. She was the child of a socially unequal marriage that had briefly scandalised the English court. Her father, Sir Richard Woodville, was merely a knight at the time of her birth, Sir Richards own father had made a good career in royal service, rising to become chamberlain to the Duke of Bedford. Sir Richard followed his father into service with the duke, the daughter of Peter of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, and Margaret de Baux, she had been married to the Duke of Bedford in 1433 at the age of 17. The duke was significantly older than Jacquetta of Luxembourg, his second wife and he died in 1435, leaving Jacquetta of Luxembourg a childless, wealthy widow. She was required to seek permission from King Henry VI before she could remarry, the couple was fined £1000, but this was remitted in October of the same year. Despite this inauspicious start, the couple soon prospered, thanks mainly to Jacquettas continuing prominence within the royal family. She retained her rank and dower as Duchess of Bedford, the latter providing an income of between £7000 and £8000 per year. Over the years, this income would diminish due to losses in France. Sir Richard was honoured with military ranks, in which he proved himself a capable soldier, further honours for both came when Henry VI married Margaret of Anjou, whose uncle was Jacquettas brother-in-law. The Woodvilles were among those chosen to escort the bride to England, Sir Richard was raised to the rank of Baron Rivers in 1448. Their children therefore would grow up enjoying considerable privilege and material comfort, in about 1452, Elizabeth Woodville married Sir John Grey of Groby, the heir to the Barony Ferrers of Groby. He was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans in 1461 and this would become a source of irony, since Elizabeths future husband Edward IV was the Yorkist claimant to the throne

12.
Monarchy of the United Kingdom
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The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom, its dependencies and its overseas territories. The monarchs title is King or Queen, the current monarch and head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, ascended the throne on the death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952. The monarch and his or her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial, diplomatic, as the monarchy is constitutional, the monarch is limited to non-partisan functions such as bestowing honours and appointing the Prime Minister. The monarch is, by tradition, commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces, from 1603, when the Scottish monarch King James VI inherited the English throne as James I, both the English and Scottish kingdoms were ruled by a single sovereign. From 1649 to 1660, the tradition of monarchy was broken by the republican Commonwealth of England, the Act of Settlement 1701 excluded Roman Catholics, or those who married Catholics, from succession to the English throne. In 1707, the kingdoms of England and Scotland were merged to create the Kingdom of Great Britain, and in 1801, the British monarch became nominal head of the vast British Empire, which covered a quarter of the worlds surface at its greatest extent in 1921. After the Second World War, the vast majority of British colonies and territories became independent, George VI and his successor, Elizabeth II, adopted the title Head of the Commonwealth as a symbol of the free association of its independent member states. The United Kingdom and fifteen other Commonwealth monarchies that share the person as their monarch are called Commonwealth realms. In the uncodified Constitution of the United Kingdom, the Monarch is the Head of State, oaths of allegiance are made to the Queen and her lawful successors. God Save the Queen is the British national anthem, and the monarch appears on postage stamps, coins, the Monarch takes little direct part in Government. Executive power is exercised by Her Majestys Government, which comprises Ministers, primarily the Prime Minister and the Cabinet and they have the direction of the Armed Forces of the Crown, the Civil Service and other Crown Servants such as the Diplomatic and Secret Services. Judicial power is vested in the Judiciary, who by constitution, the Church of England, of which the Monarch is the head, has its own legislative, judicial and executive structures. Powers independent of government are legally granted to public bodies by statute or Statutory Instrument such as an Order in Council. The Sovereigns role as a monarch is largely limited to non-partisan functions. This role has been recognised since the 19th century, the constitutional writer Walter Bagehot identified the monarchy in 1867 as the dignified part rather than the efficient part of government. Whenever necessary, the Monarch is responsible for appointing a new Prime Minister, the Prime Minister takes office by attending the Monarch in private audience, and after kissing hands that appointment is immediately effective without any other formality or instrument. Since 1945, there have only been two hung parliaments, the first followed the February 1974 general election when Harold Wilson was appointed Prime Minister after Edward Heath resigned following his failure to form a coalition. Although Wilsons Labour Party did not have a majority, they were the largest party, the second followed the May 2010 general election, in which the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats agreed to form the first coalition government since World War II

A detail from John Rocque's 1746 map of London. St Stephen's Chapel, labelled "H of Comm" (House of Commons), was adjacent to Westminster Hall; the Parliament Chamber—labelled "H of L" (House of Lords)—and the Prince's Chamber were to the far south. The Court of Requests, between the two Houses, would become the new home of the Lords in 1801. At the north-east, by the river, stood Speaker's House.

Quarr Abbey (French: Abbaye Notre-Dame de Quarr) (grid reference SZ562927) is a monastery between the villages of …

1912-rebuilt Quarr Abbey

Ruins of the old abbey

"The Remains of Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight, Hants. The Property of John Fleming Esq." Engraving by Richard Godfrey of Long Acre, c. 1780. Published in Worsley, Sir Richard, History of the Isle of Wight, London 1781

Catherine or Katherine of York (14 August 1479 – 15 November 1527) was the ninth child and sixth daughter of King …

Image: Katherine of York

The five daughters of King Edward IV (1461–1483) and Elizabeth Woodville, (left to right): Elizabeth, Cecily, Anne, Catherine, and Mary, all "Princesses of York". Royal Window, Northwest Transept, Canterbury Cathedral